friends Chase Hartman and Vance Tomasi hatched an entrepreneurial venture over the summer that is serving their community and spreading their love of reading. After learning that some children in their community didn’t own their own books, they wanted to do something about it. At the same time, they realized people and businesses dispose of a vast number of new and used books every day. They set out to solve both problems simultaneously: get gently used books into the hands of those in need while encouraging reuse and reducing landfill waste. read.repeat. was born.

On Thursday, Sept. 29th, Chase and Vance donated 800 books to Woodbridge Elementary School in Tampa. More than 600 students will benefit from the donation. “Our teachers will be so appreciative to expand their classroom libraries,” said Nicole Rideout, Media Specialist.

The boys, who attend Mary Bryant Elementary School, recruited classmates, members of their Cub Scout troop and their 4 little brothers to help with the task of sorting thousands of books into age-appropriate categories. They have built a website and make deliveries with the help of their moms. “We hope that every kid can own a book,” says Chase.

“The boys have been learning how to run a business and the importance of social responsibility,” says Chase’s mom, Kim Parrish. “With 8000 books already donated, they are well on their way to achieving their goal of distributing 20,000 books by the end of February.” The boys are delivering books to schools, hospitals, libraries, nursing homes and organizations including Friends of Upper Tampa Bay Regional Library, James A. Haley Veterans Hospital of Tampa, Better World Books, Goodwill, Friends of Austin Davis Public Library, the Salvation Army and more.

Tampa-based business 2 Swell Guys has donated thousands of new and used books to their effort, and the boys welcome others to donate books and time. More information is available at www.readrepeat.org. Follow them @readrepeatorg and on Facebook at readrepeat.